A Contrarian’s Guide To Knowing GodSample

A Different Path

It’s no accident that Jesus was raised in a backwater town and used simple illustrations to convey profound truth. It’s no accident the New Testament was written in the simple language of the marketplace rather than classical Greek. It was all part of God’s plan to make the inaccessible accessible. 

When Jesus burst onto the stage, he confronted a religious system that saw God as anything but accessible. Spirituality was reserved for the elite—those with pedigree, education, and a commitment to rigid self-discipline. 

Jesus countered this with a different path, one that farmers, fishermen, carpenters, even little children and sinners could follow. 

He raised the bar of righteousness. But he lowered the bar to entry. 

Too often, in our own zeal to honor God, we’ve re-raised the bar with definitions of spirituality that are beyond the reach of the common man—and more importantly, beyond the heights set by God himself. 

Traditional spiritual disciplines have helped many over the centuries. But what about the minds and hearts of those who don’t read so well, who work with their hands instead of their minds, who still show a few symptoms of ADD, or who view three days of reflective solitude in a monastery as worse than hell itself?

Such people aren’t necessarily lazy, spiritually dull, or uninterested. Often they’re just wired differently. And that means their path to spirituality and knowing God will look a lot different from the well-trod and well-signed routes. 

While genuine spirituality at its core is quite simple—obey God and follow the unique path he’s designed for each of us—it can look different in each of our lives. God wants a great relationship with all of us, but it can’t be found in a one-size-fits-all approach. 

The fact is, what works for one can be worthless—even harmful—for another. Whenever we project what works for us onto everyone else, we create frustration and legalism. When we let others project their stuff onto us, we too often end up with unfounded guilt. That’s certainly not helpful when it comes to producing a great relationship with God. 

There’s nothing wrong with conventional wisdom when it’s right. And most of the time it is. 

But when it’s not, someone has to speak up. 

Describe a time when a spiritual discipline that helped someone else seemed worthless to you. Why do you think that was?

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